Gorkhi-Terelj

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park was established in 1993 some seventy kilometres north-east of Ulaanbaatar and protects some 2,920 km². Its proximity to the capital makes it the most visited natural area in Mongolia.

The landscape is one of broad valleys crossed by the Tuul River and its tributaries, steppe grassland and slopes covered in larch and pine forest, in the transition belt between the Siberian taiga and the Mongolian steppe. The granite outcrops, eroded into rounded blocks and fanciful shapes, are its most recognisable feature; the most famous is Turtle Rock, a monolith some fifteen metres high.

The park preserves alpine flora at the higher altitudes and a fauna that includes red deer, elk, Siberian marmot and a birdlife of raptors. Families of nomadic herders live in its valleys, keeping up seasonal transhumance, and their camps of gers are part of the landscape. The pressure of domestic and international tourism, with the proliferation of tourist ger camps and buildings in the main valley, is its most noted management problem.